Wolf, page 21
We sat there in silence for a moment. I was still trying to wrap my head around everything I just found out. It all made sense now. It was so clear.
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, it stands to reason that if you approach Sebastian and tell him you know, he might just do whatever you ask.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you have a choice. You can ask him to step aside or you can ask him to finally make his move and take Craig off your hands.”
“But, isn’t that weird? I mean, he probably doesn’t want attention drawn to the fact that he’s…you know…gay.”
“Not gay. Bisexual. And plenty of people are doing it. Maybe he just needs to feel comfortable to step out of the closet.”
“So, you think I should do it?”
“It’s the fastest way to make this end. Or to help you move on with Craig.”
I could do that. I could approach Cap and tell him that I was totally cool with it, and if he would just open up and tell Craig what he wanted, we could both get our way.
“But Reese, are you sure?”
“Sure about what?”
She sighed and grabbed onto my hand. “You know I’m not about all the sentimental shit, but this guy is perfect for you. I know that you’re only pushing him away because you’re scared.”
“I’m not scared.”
“Yes, you are. You are the biggest scaredy cat in the world. And if you don’t work it out soon, someone like Sebastian is going to swoop in and scoop up all that male hotness. I’m just saying, don’t fuck this up.”
“I didn’t know you cared,” I said sarcastically.
“I don’t. I just don’t want you to fuck this up for me. There’s a whole building of hot men and there’s bound to be one that’s just waiting to be scooped up.”
“Sorry, I thought we were talking about my problems.”
“Yeah, see, that’s where you’re wrong. We may be talking about you, but in the end, it’s all about me.”
💕💕💕💕💕
I shook off my nerves and stepped onto the elevator at Reed Security. Sebastian had come down himself to take me up. But this wasn’t the right place to talk about this. I needed privacy with him. We got off the elevator and he led me to his office. It was nice. Very big and had an excellent view of…well, the other building. I guess these guys didn’t care very much about views.
I sat down in the chair across from him at his desk. I cleared my throat, going over in my head one last time what I wanted to say. It was a touchy subject, after all.
“Reese, whatever it is, just say it.”
I nodded. “Okay, um…I want you to know that if you feel that you’re ready to…move on, I’m fine with it.”
“If I want to move on from what?” Sebastian was leaning back in his chair, his finger running against his lip, like he was thinking. God, this was so hard.
“Well, I understand that you and Maggie have five kids.”
“Four.”
“Oh. Well, anyway, that’s a lot of kids and as a man, you must get…um…lonely.”
His brows furrowed in confusion. “Actually, with that many kids, I’m never alone.”
“Right,” I blushed furiously. I needed to come up with a better way to say this. “I just mean that you must not get very much alone time with Maggie.”
“Well, yeah, it’s difficult, but I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
“Sometimes when a man is lonely, he might go looking for…comfort somewhere else.”
He leaned forward slowly, eyeing me like a cat about to pounce. “I’m not sure I follow.”
“I’m just saying that you might go looking for…sexual relations elsewhere and that I understand that you might be looking in my household.”
He jumped up, shoving his chair back in the wall with a bang. “Uh, I think there’s some confusion here. I’m not looking for anything else. I love my wife and there’s no one in the world that I would ever leave her for.”
“Come on, Sebastian. I saw the way Craig looked when he came home last night. He was devastated.”
“That has nothing to do with me. I swear! I’m sorry if he gave you the impression that there was something going on, but there’s not. I would never do that to Maggie.”
“Okay. I just wanted you to know that I understand and I’m not judging.”
“Look, Reese, you’re a nice woman and I’m sure you’re…everything a guy could want in bed, but you do nothing for me.”
“What?” I shook my head, sure that I had heard him wrong. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you and me. It’s never gonna happen. I’m sorry, but I’ve never felt anything for you and I never will.”
“Wait, I’m not talking about me.”
“Then who are you talking about?”
“Craig. Who else?”
“Craig?” he practically shouted. “Why would you think that I would… and Craig? No. Just…no. Never.”
“Then, I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I. How about you start talking and explain to me why you would think that I would have a thing for your husband.”
“You what?” I spun around to see a man I hadn’t met before standing in the doorway.
“Chance, this is not what you think,” Sebastian said quickly.
“You’re Craig’s wife?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m Chance, different team.”
“I assumed.”
“Cap, you want to explain what’s going on here?”
“I would if I had any fucking clue,” Sebastian spat.
“Wait,” I looked between the two of them. I was so confused. “Craig came home last night and he was insisting a little too much that nothing happened between him and his teammates.”
“And you assumed he was implying that something happened with me?” Cap said incredulously.
“Well, it wouldn’t be Alec. He’s mad about Florrie.”
“And I’m mad about my wife!”
“Well,” Chance shrugged. “I could see why she would assume…”
“How?” Cap shouted. “How could you look at me and assume that I was interested in a man!”
“Well, your wife is always pregnant and you never have any free time because of those kids. She probably assumed that you were looking for a little nookie on the side.”
“Thank you!”
“No! Never. That’s just…” He shook his head and shook like he was wiggling something off of him or he was having a seizure. “So, you just decided that I was the most logical choice.”
“Well, actually it was Brooke. I mean, she pointed out everything and it just clicked. I mean, you agreed to help me change the locks after you told me that you owed him.”
“Yeah, well, I also believe that a woman shouldn’t be forced into marriage. I was trying to help you!”
“But you gave up so easily.”
“I still don’t see how you came to that conclusion. Is it something about me? Is it the way I dress or something?”
“Well, you have been wearing a lot of ties lately,” Chance said.
“Ties? I look gay because I’m wearing ties?”
Chance shrugged. “You never know. I mean, you’ve just never been such a fancy man before.”
“I’ve been going around to banks to get loans so we can keep functioning. Our jobs are only taking us so far.”
“Alright, no need to get your panties in a twist,” Chance laughed.
“Out! Get the fuck out right now before I make you go train Maggie.”
Chance’s face grew serious. “That’s just mean.”
He turned and walked out, leaving me alone with Sebastian again.
“So, you’re not bisexual.”
“No!”
“Alright, geez, I just wanted to be sure.”
He shivered violently and sat back down in his chair. “Now, if you would like to know what happened, I’ll be glad to explain it to you.”
“Please do. I’ve been freaking out about this conversation.”
He rolled his eyes and sighed. “He was trying to get centered so he could, I don’t know, figure out how to win you over. The guys hired a yoga instructor, but it turned out it was tantric yoga.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Let’s just say, you’re lucky you didn’t walk in on what I did.”
I swallowed hard. “Right.”
I stood, turning for the door. I was so embarrassed. This was the worst idea ever.
“Do me a favor and kick Brook’s ass for me.”
“No problem there.”
She was so getting her ass kicked.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Craig
“Hey!” Cap shouted. I was in the new training room, testing out my leg on the obstacle course. I looked up and saw that he was stalking toward me like he was ready to kill me. I got down off the climbing wall, careful not to put too much pressure on my foot. Yeah, I might not be totally ready to do this shit yet. Even my ass still hurt.
“What’s up?”
“You need to go fix things with your woman.”
“Okay. Do you mind telling me what I need to fix?”
“She came to me and told me that she understood if I was ready to move on.”
I looked at him in confusion. “Move on from what?”
“That’s what I wanted to know. She thought that with Maggie and I having so many kids, I would be looking for sex with someone else.”
“She came onto you?” No fucking way. That woman was mine and she wasn’t leaving me for a married man.
“No, she thought that I wanted you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, apparently, you looked devastated last night and rambled about not doing anything with any of us. She thought that I was trying to seduce you!”
I snorted in laughter, trying to hold it in. That was the first time that I knew of that anyone accused Cap of being gay. He was the furthest thing from being gay.
“Well, you have been wearing a lot of ties lately.”
“What the fuck does that have to do with anything? Chance said the same fucking thing.”
“Well, you know, they’re…floofy.”
“Floofy?”
“Yeah, you know…girly.”
He looked down at his tie and held it out to examine it more closely. “How is this tie girly?”
“Well, not girly exactly, but something that a woman or…gay person might pick out.”
“And how exactly does a gay man pick out ties differently than a straight man?”
“Well, see a straight man would probably choose black or dark blue, but you went with purple. And it has pink stripes.”
“But…Maggie told me I look good in it.”
“And she’s a woman.”
He quickly loosened the tie from around his neck and tore it off over his head. “Why didn’t someone fucking say something?”
I shrugged. “I guess I thought that you were going for a new style. Who am I to judge?”
“You just fucking did!”
“Right. Well, I’m not perfect.”
“Fine, no more fucking ties. No more suits.” He started ripping his clothes off, his jacket first and then his shirt, throwing them to the floor. “When I go to the bank from now on, I’ll just wear jeans and a nice shirt.”
“Yeah, but not that blue one.”
“Which blue one?”
“You know, the periwinkle one.”
“Fuck, is there anything about my clothes that’s okay?”
I thought about it for a moment. “You know when you’re not dressing up to go kiss ass?” He nodded. “Those are fine.”
💕💕💕💕💕
“Honey, I’m home,” I said in a sing-song voice as I walked through the door. Reese was sitting on the couch, eating a chocolate bar and watching something on tv.
“What do you want?”
“Uh…just to see my honey bunny and give her a kiss!”
“Go away.”
I sat down on the coffee table, blocking her view of the tv. “What’s wrong, my little sweet potato?”
“Would you knock it off? Enough already.”
“What would you like me to stop?”
“Stop everything! We aren’t really married. It’s only on paper. You know that this is all a sham, so just give me my divorce and we’ll put this all to rest.”
“I don’t understand. You don’t want to be married to me?”
Of course she didn’t. This was all a joke to her, but it was so real to me.
“Craig, I went to your office and accused your boss of being gay! You’re turning me into a lunatic. This has to stop. I hate this house. I hate being married to you. And I’m really hating my life.”
Wow. That really hurt. But, I was never one to give up when times got tough. Besides, Brooke had told me this would happen, so I had been preparing for this. I took a deep breath and nodded.
“Okay.”
“Okay? You’ll give me a divorce?”
“No. Not a chance in hell. But I’m willing to give you the time you need to figure out that we’re meant to be together. And you can change the house again. I don’t know what you were thinking with the decor. It’s really not our style.”
“We don’t have a style. We aren’t really a couple.”
“Pixie, we’re more of a couple than anyone I know.”
I stood and walked out of the room. I may have to deal with this and give her time, but I didn’t have to listen to her telling me that we didn’t belong together. It hurt a man’s pride.
I went upstairs and got in the shower, scrubbing that conversation off me. I couldn’t believe that she kept asking for a divorce. It was just ridiculous. How could she not see how good we were together? I knew she felt it. Every time we made love, and that’s exactly what we were doing, I could feel her giving in to me. Her body gravitated to mine at night, until she was pressed tightly against me. That wasn’t something that happened when you didn’t like the person that was in your bed. In fact, that wasn’t even something that happened when you just liked that person.
“Craig.”
I looked up and saw my little pixie standing in the bathroom, but she didn’t look happy to be here. In fact, if I had to guess, she was here to try and let me down easy. Again.
“Did you decide on something different to do with the house?”
Even I could hear the anger in my tone. That’s what this was turning into for me. Every time she came to tell me it was over, I felt a little piece of me dying inside.
“I’m not redecorating the house. I know that you think this is going to turn out differently, but it’s not. This doesn’t end any way except in divorce.”
I scrubbed at my nails, making sure to get every last piece of dirt out until my fingers felt like they were bleeding. I didn’t respond. I just couldn’t. I was getting tired of defending myself and trying to convince her that this was real. I needed a job. I needed to get away and clear my head for a minute. But that wasn’t going to happen, so I shut off the water and pulled back the shower curtain. Stepping out onto the bath mat, I watched as her eyes hungrily took in my body. That wasn’t the look of someone that didn’t want me.
“We…we need to be…realistic here.”
“Sure.”
I plucked the towel from the towel bar and started to dry myself off. She licked her lips, her eyes growing wide as I hardened. If she was going to leave, I was going to be damn sure that I got to have her one more time. I was going to give her everything, pleasure her in so many ways that when she went out with someone else, it would only be me she was thinking about.
I stalked toward her, wrapping my hand around her neck as I leaned in to kiss her. She didn’t pull back when I pressed my lips to hers. I slipped my tongue inside her mouth, stroking her cheek as my lips caressed hers. Her breath was short and sweet as she gasped against my lips. I slid my other arm around her waist and pulled her flush against me.
Her heart pounded against my chest and her nails dug into my skin as she gripped me to her. God, I could practically feel my soul reaching out to her. I couldn’t live without her. My heart would break and I would lose all reason to be here. I had to convince her to stay.
Picking her up, I carried her into the other room. Her legs were tangled behind my back as I laid her down on the bed and kissed her sweet lips. I broke the kiss, skimming my lips across her jaw and down her neck.
“How can you deny this?”
I slowly pulled the clothes from her body, swallowing hard at I looked at my gorgeous wife. My heart hammered in my chest, but this was make or break time. There was no waiting and hoping she came around. This was my moment to show her how much I loved her.
“I love you, Reese. And I know you think I’m an idiot, that I just have some obsession, but I love you and that’s never going to stop.”
Her fingers slid into my hair as I kissed my way down her body, running my tongue over her breasts and down to her belly button. I waited, desperate to hear the words, but they didn’t come.
I dragged my tongue down her body, pulling her pants down until she was bare for me. She shuddered against me as I kissed up her thighs and ran my thumb across her pussy.
“Craig,” she whispered.
“Tell me.”
“Why?”
“Because I know you feel it. Just say it.”
My breath fanned out across her pussy. I was aching inside, needing to be in her and needing to hear those three words. Inside I was begging her to say it. I could wait forever for her if she would only say what I needed to hear.
“I do. You know I do,” she finally said.
“Then say it,” I urged her. I moved back up to meet her lips, kissing her hard, taking everything I could from her. “Just say it.”
“I love you.”
That was all I needed. I was inside her just a minute later, taking what was mine, what always would be mine. There was nothing else in the world that meant anything to me if I didn’t have her. She might try to run, but I would always be there to chase her, to bring her back to me.
